Three Things That Could Happen to Renji
by Imadra Blue
Summary: ...when he meets Byakuya again. Three different looks at possible reunions between Renji and Byakuya, all following Chapter 315 of the manga. Gen.


**Characters:** Renji, Byakuya, Kurotsuchi, Wonderweiss, others.  
**Disclaimer:** _Bleach_ is the property of Tite Kubo. No copyright infringement is intended.  
**Notes:** Will probably be rendered AU the moment Chapter 316 is released. Spoilers, obviously. Though the title might suggest otherwise, all three of the snippets are gen.

--\-\-\-\

**1.**

When they arrived at Aaroneiro's tower, Unohana stared at Renji and Ishida in surprise. "Your wounds were healed."

"Yes, thanks to Captain Kurotsuchi and his serum," Renji said. Kurotsuchi stared at the broken walls of the tower and looked bored by the conversation.

Byakuya studied Renji intently. He took a step forward and poked at one of the holes in Renji's shihakushō. Renji jumped, startled that Byakuya would touch him at all. He opened his mouth, but Byakuya cut him off. "Captain Kurotsuchi," Byakuya snapped, turning towards the strangest of all Shinigami.

"Yes?" asked Kurotsuchi. He even sounded bored.

"Whatever you have injected my Lieutenant with, you may remove. Now."

Kurotsuchi tilted his strange head and smiled. He rubbed his temple with a finger. "It won't harm him."

Renji glanced between them. "He injected me with a healing serum." It occurred to him that Kurotsuchi had revealed infecting Ishida with surveillance bacteria during the battle with Szayel Aporro. Renji really did not care for the idea of Kurotsuchi being privy to his bathroom activities and especially not his activities involving the girlie magazines that Shūhei gave him. He eyed Kurotsuchi. "It was just a healing serum, right?"

"I am not concerned with the healing serum," Byakuya said. He crossed his arms. "It's everything else you injected him with. I can sense your reiatsu inside of him."

"Oh?" Kurotsuchi's eyebrow arched. "I did not realize you were so in synch with your Lieutenant's reiatsu."

"Remove it. Now."

"Oh, all right. There's no reason to be so disagreeable, Kuchiki." Kurotsuchi suddenly shoved a giant needle into Renji's arm. The pain caused tears to spring to Renji's eyes. He cried out despite himself. A viscous green liquid filled the vial, and Kurotsuchi flashed teeth when he pulled out. Renji whimpered and clutched his arm.

Byakuya narrowed his eyes. "And the rest of it."

"Indeed. How intimate the two of you must be."

Renji blushed. "We're not—" he said, then screamed when Kurotsuchi jabbed him in the tight with another needle. Renji noticed a pink liquid being drawn from his bloodstream, before pain drove him to his knees. Kurotsuchi stabbed him a third time, this time in the back. Renji curled into a fetal position and sobbed. His entire body felt as if he had just been run through with Zabimaru multiple times. Was this how other people felt when he cut them?

Kurotsuchi put the needles inside of his cloak. "Satisfied, Kuchiki?"

"For the moment."

Renji continued to whimper on the floor. "Never gonna let another needle touch my skin."

"Suck it up, Renji," Ishida said, adjusting his glasses. "You sound like a woman."

"I've had much worse," said Nemu, stepping out from behind her captain. She stared down at Renji without pity—or any other discernible emotion. "And I've never cried like that."

"My apologies," Ishida said. "He sounds worse than a woman."

"I hate you all," Renji moaned.

--\-\-\-\

**2.**

"Lieutenant, you're late," Byakuya snapped. His iginpaku kazahana no uzuginu/i had been stained with blood, and his haori had gone missing. "Where have you been? We were supposed to have assembled three hours ago."

Renji grinned and rested Zabimaru on his shoulder. Yammy's blood still dripped from his blade. "Sorry about that, Captain. Just cleaning up Espada with Ichigo."

Wonderweiss peeked out from behind his legs. Renji tried to shove him back, but Wonderweiss refused to budge. He stared at Byakuya with huge purple eyes. "Aah?" he asked, and looked up at Renji.

"It's okay. He's not nice, but he won't hurt you."

"Aah." Wonderweiss chewed on a sandal, his head wound still bleeding a bit. Renji did a double take and then realized his right foot bore nothing but a ragged sock. He sighed as Wonderweiss crunched the sandal between his sharp teeth. There would be no salvaging that, at least not without Orihime—and she was busy putting Ulqiorra back into one piece. Besides, if he took the sandal away, then Wonderweiss would be sad.

"Lieutenant?" Byakuya's eyes narrowed.

"He got upset over Tōsen leaving, and I found Yammy beating on him to make him shut up. So I rescued him." Renji ruffled the arrancar's pale hair. "He's kinda cute. Can I keep him? I promise to feed him and walk him every day."

Byakuya's right eyebrow twitched.

--\-\-\-\

**3.**

Seeing Rukia alive, bandaged and sleeping, let Renji breathe easier. He grinned and ran towards her. Byakuya suddenly stepped into view. He held out a bandaged arm and stopped Renji.

"She just fell asleep. Do not wake her."

There was no overt threat in Byakuya's statement or in his usual monotone, but it was implied all the same. Renji stood straighter and looked his captain in the eye. Byakuya held his gaze without blinking. For every second that Renji stared at him, he felt colder. He looked away. Though Byakuya had seemed warmer with him than he had before the revelation of Aizen's betrayal, there was one thing that Byakuya would apparently never thaw on: Rukia was not for Renji.

Renji cleared his throat. "Is she all right, Captain Kuchiki?"

Byakuya did not answer but glanced behind him at Isane, who tended Rukia. "She will be fine after some rest," Isane promised. She gave Byakuya a hard glance. "You should be resting as well, Captain."

"You already healed my wounds, Lieutenant. They were nothing to be concerned with."

Isane frowned but turned back to Rukia. Hanatorō picked at his own bandages and said nothing. Then again, few ever dared to challenge Kuchiki Byakuya about so much as eating the last piece of sashimi. Renji prided himself on being one of those few—and he had the scars to prove it.

"You know, Captain," he said with a smirk, "you do look pale."

"I'm naturally pale." Byakuya closed his eyes. After all their time together, Renji knew this meant Byakuya was annoyed.

"And you're all sweaty."

"You're imagining things."

"And your limbs are trembling."

"Now you're just making things up."

"Really, Captain." Renji leaned into Byakuya's face. The other man's eyes fluttered open and narrowed. "In the state you're in, either you need rest to fully recover from your wounds, or you're really happy to see me alive. So happy that you can barely contain your joy."

Byakuya sat. Renji sat beside him—despite Kurotsuchi's healing serum, his body still twinged and ached from the abuse that Szayel Aporro had put him through.

"Must you sit so close?" Byakuya asked as Isane came up to start checking their bandages.

"Yup." Renji glanced over at the sleeping Rukia. "It's either over there beside her or here beside you."

"I see." Byakuya closed his eyes again. "And where are Captain Kurotsuchi and the Quincy?"

"Poking around Szayel Aporro's lab. I couldn't stay to watch. After having my entire digestive system crushed, I feel nauseated enough."

Byakuya was silent for a moment. "It is good that you survived."

Renji blinked. Was Byakuya actually happy to see him alive? "Hey, Isane." He thumbed over at Byakuya. "Check his head, will ya? I think he hit it."

"My head is fine," Byakuya snapped when she reached for it.

Isane shrugged and stood. "Please just sit there until the rest of us assemble—you both need rest."

As soon as Isane walked away, Byakuya glanced at Renji. "If you were to die, who would look up to and strive to defeat me?"

Renji beamed at hearing his own words in Byakuya's mouth. "I'm happy to see you, too, Captain."


End file.
